The U.S. Chamber of Commerce poured money into lobbying at the end of 2009, nearly tripling its expenditures from a year earlier and dwarfing spending by other activist groups.

As it worked to influence climate and energy legislation and many other issues, the trade association spent $71.1 million in the last three months of the year, compared with $24 million in the fourth quarter of 2008, lobbying-disclosure records show. The total includes what the chamber spent on its lobbyists as well as on advertising campaigns and grass-roots efforts.

"It was an incredibly ambitious year for the Congress and the administration," chamber spokeswoman Tita Freeman said. "The chamber was involved in every pressing issue that impacts the economy and the business community, so it shouldn't come as a surprise."

"The chamber is an advocacy organization," Freeman added. "Our purpose is to actively communicate the positions of the business community ... generally that is why we exist."

A trade group that says it represents America's businesses, the chamber ranked climate and energy legislation among its top-tier concerns along with health care, financial regulatory reform, small business initiatives and rules for union organizing known as "card check." The chamber lobbied on several other issues and talked to lawmakers about spending bills for nearly every government department.

The report shows both the depth and breadth of the group's involvement on policies affecting energy, the environment, transportation and chemicals. Within each, the chamber sometimes weighed in on dozens of bills or potential changes. On transportation and infrastructure, the trade group lobbied on 23 separate bills and many issues where no specific bill had been introduced.

The spending spike came at the end of a year that saw the chamber in the limelight. Utilities Exelon Corp., PNM Resources Inc. and Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. last fall decided to leave the group over its position on climate legislation. Apple Inc. left as well. Nike Inc. resigned from the chamber's board of directors but stayed on as a member. Some of those departing companies said it became clear to them that there were a few chamber members that did not want climate legislation and that those members' voices drowned out those of climate legislation supporters.

The chamber opposed the House-passed climate bill and has not endorsed the Senate bill from Democratic Sens. John Kerry of Massachusetts and Barbara Boxer of California. It argues that it would be inappropriate for U.S. EPA to regulate heat-trapping emissions under the Clean Air Act. But the chamber has said that it supports "strong federal legislation and a binding international agreement to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change."

Chamber critics charge that the trade group has wielded its wallet to stop climate legislation.

"What [the lobbying report] proves is that when your agenda is 'no,' it's an expensive agenda," David Di Martino, spokesman for the Clean Energy Works campaign, a coalition of about 60 environmental groups, labor unions, religious organizations and veterans groups. "It costs a lot of money to block everything."

What the chamber has been most effective at, Di Martino said, is confusing Americans about what is in various climate bills.

Di Martino rejected statements by the chamber that it supports climate legislation.

"They've been duplicitous in their position and duplicitous in their statements," Di Martino said. "They've spent every last dollar they can to keep America reliant on old technologies that the Chamber of Commerce represents."

The chamber continues to call for "comprehensive climate legislation," said R. Bruce Josten, chamber executive vice president of government affairs.

Josten and the chamber president, Tom Donohue, met last week with Kerry and Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who are working on a climate legislation compromise. The group "revisited" the chamber's positions on climate legislation and the points made in an October opinion piece by Kerry and Graham on climate legislation, Josten said.

"We said we're generally in sync," Josten said. At this point, he said, there are few details beyond what was in the op-ed.

But Josten at the same time described as successful the chamber's lobbying efforts last year on climate.